scr660

What do you think? Also, why are Race X Lites less flexy than Race Lites?

bdcheung

I don't think my Race X lites suck. Commute on them almost daily.

scr660

Then why do my Race Lites suck, if they're basically the same design

bdcheung

Having never owned or handled a set of Race Lites, I have no idea.

Sawtooth

I like my race Lites enough. Nothing special, but they work well. What sucks about yours?

iamtim

I'm 235lbs and ride off-road on my Poprad with the Bontrager Race wheels that came stock on the bike. Short of one incident, they've held up admirably well. My sister-in-law has run a set of Race X Lites for the entire time she's been riding (about 3 years), and has only required one truing. Another rider in our "group" is training for a tri on a set of Race Lites, and they've been problem-free for him as well.

Perhaps you've just got a pair of lemons?

Rutnick

I don't think so. I have a friend that weighs about the same as you. He puts down some massive power. I mean massive. What is the result of it? Mavic Aksium....broken spokes. 2008 Bontrager race lites wouldn't stay true and finally cracked the rear rim. Another set of Bontrager Race Lites.....broken front spoke and cracked rear rim. Trek upgraded him to Bontrace Race X Lites. Result? 3000 miles later....cracked rear rim. 3000 miles for him is only about 4 months of riding. Result? Yet another set of Race X Lites provided by Trek.


My Story with Bontrager? 3 months after I bought my 2006 Zurich, my Race Lite rear hub exploded. The replacement wheelset sat for about a year or more. I put it on a bike recently to use as my winter wheel. result? About one month later the rear wheel needs to be trued. That's like 200 miles of riding.

What do I currently weigh? Right now 201. In the summer around 180.

Before people say my friend at 235 needs to lose weight. He did...he was over 300lbs when he started riding. Now he rides about 7-8k miles a year...he's a spinner but can put some massive power down to boot. I mean massive.

bdcheung

I commute and cyclocross on my race x lites - never had an issue. sounds like everyone with the cheaper "race lites" are having problems.

GPB

I wouldn't say my '06's suck. They aren't flexy that I've noticed...at 185 lbs. Rear trued once after 3K miles; it only needed a minor tweak. No issues, otherwise. And no experience with other wheels...so maybe i'm missing something i'm not aware of.

waterrockets 

Paired spoking just adds no value. Fewer spokes at higher tension requires a stronger (heavier rim) spanning between the spoke pairs, so the wheels are neither stronger or lighter. Aerodynamics are close enough that you can't tell which is better in comparison tests.

It all boils down to looks, really.

Hocam

+1

It's just a gimmic to sell more wheels/bikes. They look drastically different than normal wheels so people think "OOOOO look at that", I feel the same about campy's G3 lacing too but at least that has the benefit of twice as many left spokes than right to add some strength.

I'd much rather have 4-8 more spokes so when one does inevitably break, the wheel is still rideable.

botto 

I love the ones I picked up from some dude in Mexico, who posts here.

zac

I don't think they suck.

I have a set of '05 Race Lites, that have well over 20k hard miles. They have only been trued a couple of times, and really only just because I couldn't leave well enough alone.

I have a set of '08 Race X Lites, that I couldn't keep the rear true. Found out that they were coming out of the factory with inadequate thread lock on too many of the spokes (one of the problems of paired spokes is high spoke tensions and the need for thread lock at the nipple/spoke). I ended up cracking a rear rim and that was replaced by Trek. The replacement as well as the original front have been problem free...I'd venture about 10k on the front and 2k on the new rear.

I am 160lbs and put out some fair amount of power, but wheels are finicky things, sometimes you get some good ones, sometimes you don't.

I can't say that I am either a fan or a hater of paired spokes. I think for what they are Bonty makes a decent wheel, it is just that they are overpriced (MSRP wise)

zac

waterrockets 

botto 

si, si puede.

tubescreamerx

I don't know much about the Race Lites, but I do know that past models of the Race X Lite have had serious hub problems--such as cracking and spontaneous failure.

For 2008, they claim to have changed the hub design, which is now stronger, yadda yadda.

In any case, I own a pair of the new Race X Lites as my primary wheels on my newish Ridley Excalibur and they have about 1000mi on them. Did an employee purchase direct from Bontrager so I didn't have to pay the retail price, which is just outrageous. My experience? I think they're great for what I paid, haven't needed truing at all, and they look pretty good. I routinely (although I try not to) hit terrible potholes in Boston suburbs, ride all through the winter, etc. and have crashed twice on these wheels already. No problems. For what it's worth, I'm around 142.

Edit: I know someone who's 200+ and they have essentially the same setup: Excalibur with 08 Race X Lites. They put down serious power as well and have been very pleased with their performance since last summer.

wcoastbikr

I have Bontrager Race's and they're terrible...heavy, flex way too much, and have gone out of true 3 times (only 135lbs). I can't afford to buy new wheels though so I just deal with it. Hopefully they don't break any time soon because I would be sol.

I've heard good things about the Race Lites...

Rutnick

Don't you have the aeros? I have that same wheel and will agree that they are stronger than X Lites or Lites.

I really like my aeros. Heavier but they just work.

botto 

yes.

Capt_phun

I have race lite aero rear on a powertap hub, been beating the crap out of it for over a year & never once have I had to true it, touch it, anything.

waterrockets 

Wow, that really does look nice. Muy bien.

boulderroad

Over 6K miles on '06 race x lites, no issues, never trued.
I've been expecting them to explode or something based on what I've read here, but they are fine.
Why is Bontrager so maligned?

scr660

My rear wheel flexes to the left as soon as I put any weight on the bike. Always left.

SushiJoe

botto,
Do you use the PF as your training bike (vs. the Giant) or is it more of a crappy weather bike?

botto 

it's my domestic bike.